Getting to day 1: HR’s crucial role in the E.ON carve-out
Corporate transformations may be increasingly common, but that’s little consolation to those charged with executing them. E.ON’s recent split into two companies was about as complex a transformation as one can imagine, with an almost impossible timetable. The results speak volumes about the importance of good strategy, planning, and execution. They also serve as an […]
Coffee Break: Dress code, employee perks and the case for changing your job title
We've spent another week sifting through the mountain of HR articles and blogs to find the best nuggets for you to read over your lunch break or morning coffee. Let us know what you think, or if you have any other articles to recommend! Recruitment – For employee retention, there's no place like home (Fortune) – […]
Coffee Break: Internships, workers rights and the link between sleep quality & success
Time to get up to speed with the week's HR going-on – take a look through our handy round up of news and opinion, and as ever feel free to let us know what you think in the comments! Recruitment – Recruiting Gen Z: 'It's like Tinder, but instead of a date you get a job' (The […]
We will only get truly inclusive organisations if we question the way work works
The Women and Equalities Select Committee recently estimated that a failure to use women’s skills is costing the UK £36 billion a year. This is clearly a problematic issue that we need to address as a society, but it isn’t just the skills of women that are being underutilised. It is the skills of anyone […]
Tackling bribery and corruption: where are the gaps for HR to fill?
In February this year, the Serious Fraud Office obtained its first successful conviction against a company under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010. Sweett Group PLC pleaded guilty to a charge that it had failed to prevent an act of bribery by a subsidiary company that was intended to secure and retain a contract. […]
Should your CEO be on Twitter?
I blogged recently about an exchange on Twitter with the CEO of an e-learning company who, in a tweetchat, referred to his staff as his "subordinates" – a description which I challenged. I won't rehash the discussion that followed here because I want to talk about something else; something related, but different. I want to […]
Employee engagement at the world’s third-largest charitable foundation, the Wellcome Trust
Deirdre Carty is Head of HR at the Wellcome Trust. Deirdre is an HR and Organisation Development generalist with over twenty years’ experience of leading and developing the people agenda and HR function in an innovative, fast moving, global charitable foundation. The Wellcome Trust is a biomedical research charity based in London, set up in 1936, and […]
Looking at leadership after Brexit
Whether you are a politician, leader of a big business, in charge of a small team or anything in between, there are some fundamentals of leadership that we must all act upon. As leaders we now have some important shared duties and collective responsibilities. Whichever way you voted in the referendum, the UK is a democracy […]
Vintage HR – Talkin’ Bout An Evolution
They say that in a time of recession, a return to tried and tested methods is common. If we look at the ‘reboots’ and sequels of popular movie franchises (X-Men 9 in the pipeline at the moment!) and the reunion of popular, often novelty, musical acts that appeared immediately following the 2007 global economic recession, […]
Leadership lessons from the Referendum
I have no desire to enter the political fray with my thoughts on whether the UK should stay or remain. I’m already clear which way I’m going to vote but am unsure if I will have made the correct decision. And that comes down to the way the campaign was originally conceived and has subsequently […]
It’s one thing to create a culture of innovation, but how do you sustain it?
And they all lived happily ever after. The trouble is, successfully building a culture of innovation isn’t like a fairy story. Sure there have been triumphs and disasters along the way; moments when the plot seemed to be leading you inexorably towards failure, or twists of fate which led you along unexpected pathways, but innovation […]
Engaging your people in the innovation journey
There are many roads to building a culture of innovation within an organisation and one of the key tasks for the leadership team is to identify and scope the transition matrix which optimises results for their own business. Some may opt for a business wide transition, whilst others may prefer to smooth the way via […]
Have you mobilised your innovation agents?
Who are the true innovation leaders within an organisation? Well yes, some of them may sit at the top table. In fact, if you’ve read the first article in this series, leading innovation, you may remember that I commented that if it’s not on the top team’s agenda it’s not going to be in the […]
Are you ready to build and lead a culture of innovation?
Are you fully prepared to do what it takes to lead a culture of innovation within your organisation? I admit you’ve served your time, worked your way up through the ranks, built up some leadership CPD points and your job title now contains the word leader, executive or equivalent. What else do you need – […]
Coffee break: Resilience, unconscious bias and rigging your performance review
Here is your weekly list of news, opinion and interesting blogs from across the HR world. Let us know what you've enjoyed reading this week in the comments below! Development – What do women's career paths really look like? (HBR) – The business benefits of early intervention (Unum) – Why is resilience so important for […]
Coffee Break: Commuting, HR Tech & million dollar mission statements
Another week has gone by, and so here we are to bring you the latest round-up of HR news, opinion and assorted bits and bobs from across the internet. Let us know what you've enjoyed reading this week, and what you think of the articles we've shared below! Leadership – How to wrtie a million dollar […]
Mutiny on the ice: Earnest Shackleton and the trust equation
After the ship Endeavour sank, crushed by ice in the Antarctic 100 years ago, Sir Earnest Shackleton faced the beginnings of mutiny amongst his men. Shackleton and his crew had been sailing towards the South Pole so that they could seek to be the first ever to cross the Antarctic. On the way, their ship […]
Coffee Break: Managing teams, robo recruiters and offices for introverts
We've spent another week cherry-picking our favourite blogs, tweets and articles for your Friday reading pleasure, aren't we nice? Let us know your thoughts on the articles below, and if you have any other tips for pieces we should read! Engagement – Businesses are embracing the idea of teams. Managing them is hard (The Economist) – […]
Zero-hours contracts – friend or foe?
Zero-hours contracts have received a lot of attention in the press over the past couple of years. Generally speaking, ‘zero-hours’ means contracts where the employer doesn’t guarantee the individual any hours of work. We’ve also seen some high profile cases of businesses using (and ‘abusing’) zero-hours contracts. The criticism in some of these specific cases […]
How to avoid manager dependency
It goes without saying that managers need to be able to support and help those that they lead. Problems arise when leaders find it hard to release control and team members take advantage of the situation to shirk responsibility. Over time, this can lead to ‘manager dependency’. With the benefits of operating a flexible working […]